Belmont making switch to OVC look easy

NASHVILLE — The Belmont Bruins expect success, and they're not letting a simple thing like changing conferences get in the way of what they're accustomed to doing: Winning.

NASHVILLE — The Belmont Bruins expect success, and they’re not letting a simple thing like changing conferences get in the way of what they’re accustomed to doing: Winning.

Belmont went to the NCAA tournament five of the last seven seasons as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference. Now in its first season in the Ohio Valley Conference, Belmont is once again atop the league standings.

The Bruins (17-4, 8-0) are undefeated in league play, and a strength of schedule in non-conference play ranked third nationally and featuring a win at Stanford. That combination has them with an RPI of No. 14 that is the highest of any men’s team in the state of Tennessee, and they’ve won eight straight since a 66-63 loss at Central Florida on Dec. 29.

Senior guard Kerron Johnson said that experience is helping the Bruins plenty this season since they’ve been together for at least three years. They lost Mick Hedgepeth, Drew Hanlen and Scott Saunders, and Johnson.

“This senior class has really stepped up and made it a purpose not to be the team that let this program down,” Johnson said. “This program’s on an upswing, and we want to make sure it continues to go that way.”

Belmont already has set quite a standard growing from an NAIA program that made two Final Fours under Byrd, including going 37-2 in 1994-95, to NCAA Division I in 1996-97. Since then, Belmont won 10 tournament and regular season championships in the Atlantic Sun since 2006, and only Kansas has won more (12). The Bruins and Kansas also are the only programs with 12 or more league wins each of the past 10 seasons.

Byrd said a big key has been that his Bruins get every opponent’s best everywhere they play because of their reputation.

“We don’t ever get to play anybody when they aren’t ready to play, it rarely happens,” Byrd said. “Our guys know when we play people at their best and we can still win, that’s pushed us, pressed us and made us better.”

It’s why OVC coaches picked Belmont as the favorite to win the league’s East Division back in October, and it sure helps that Byrd has senior Ian Clark, the Atlantic Sun defensive player of the year last season.

The 6-foot-3 guard is the nation’s most accurate 3-point shooter, hitting 51.1 percent beyond the arc, and he’s also ninth nationally in 3-pointers made per game with 3.43. He ranks 24th scoring 19.2 points per game, and Clark was named as the OVC’s player of the week Monday for the third straight week and fourth overall this season. In league play, Clark is the OVC’s top scorer averaging 22.3 points a game shooting 64 percent from the floor and 60 percent from 3.

“They want to clog the lane and stop the rest of us, he’ll just keep shooting 58 percent,” Johnson said of his roommate. “When you’re able to play off each other and the coaches put you in such great positions to make plays, you see what happens. He’s one of the best players in the country.”

Clark said the basket looks pretty big right now, so he’s busy trying to help his team.

“I feel we can accomplish something special being in our first year in the OVC, and I don’t want let an opportunity slip away,” Clark said.

His coach has no problem whenever Clark wants to shoot because even Byrd, who has coached Belmont 27 years, said Clark’s success is a little surprising simply because of the numbers the guard is putting up.

“We’ve had a lot of good shooters here over the years, no one has gone this deep into the season shooting over 50 percent from 3 or close to 60 in conference play,” Byrd said. “It doesn’t happen.”

The Bruins are starting to reap some of the benefits from playing in a league whose members are bunched so much closer with more media coverage and increased attendance. It also helps that their RPI is higher than Tennessee and Vanderbilt of the Southeastern Conference and Middle Tennessee of the Sun Belt, a team Belmont beat Dec. 13.

The biggest advantage may come in March when the OVC tournament will be played a few miles from Belmont’s campus. Clark said the Bruins refuse to be complacent thinking they have enough of a cushion to lose a couple games and still earn an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.

“We just want to go in with the mindset of winning the tournament has to be our only way of making it and go from there,” Clark said.

The Bulldogs (9-11, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) have won three of four.

Frankie Sullivan and Allen Payne each finished with 13 points for Auburn (8-12, 2-5). The Tigers, who have dropped five straight, matched their season-low in points and shot a season-worst 28.3 percent.

Caldwell-Pope, Georgia’s leading scorer in 18 of 20 games this season, gave the Bulldogs a four-point lead with a putback at the 1:09 mark and followed with two free throws to make it 53-47 with 31 seconds left.

Georgia began the game ranked No. 325 in the nation in scoring, but Auburn was the team that struggled all night offensively.

Sullivan, the SEC’s third-leading scorer, didn’t produce a point until the 8:45 mark of the first half.

Hickey had 14 points in the second half and Stringer converted a key four-point play late in the game for the Tigers (11-7, 2-5 Southeastern Conference).

Phil Pressey scored 25 for Missouri (15-5, 4-3), which has lost all four of its games on the opposing team’s home court this season. Jabari Brown added 19 points and Lawrence Bowers had 10. Bowers played for the first time in three weeks due to a knee injury.

Missouri, which trailed by as many as 16 early in the second half, pulled to 61-58 on a basket by Pressey with 3:37 left. Two possessions later, Stringer made his fourth 3-pointer. He was fouled on the shot and hit the free throw, too.

The Hoosiers (19-2, 7-1 Big Ten) have won four straight overall and five consecutive road games in league play, keeping a share of the conference lead. No. 1 Michigan also won Wednesday night, beating Northwestern 68-46, to set up a Saturday night showdown between the league leaders in Bloomington.

Purdue (11-10, 4-4) was led by freshman center A.J. Hammons, who had a career-high 30 points, but couldn’t avoid a second straight home loss to the Hoosiers. The Boilermakers have lost only twice in their last six games.

Indiana took control early with a 9-0 run, then closed the first half on a 13-2 spurt to take a 47-27 halftime lead.

Seth Curry added 21 points, including a tiebreaking 3-pointer in the final minutes for the Blue Devils (18-2, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference).

They shot nearly 52 percent — despite going just 2-for-14 from 3-point range — and got a huge night from their senior big man to earn their first road victory of the season.

Freshman Devin Thomas had 15 points for the Demon Deacons (10-10, 3-5), who were denied their second upset of a nationally ranked state rival in eight nights.

C.J. Harris and Travis McKie added 14 points each for Wake Forest, which led 66-65 on Tyler Cavanaugh’s three-point play with 4:02 left.

No. 21 Creighton 91, Missouri St. 77: Doug McDermott scored 29 points and made five of Creighton’s 15 3-pointers in the No. 21 Bluejays’ 91-77 victory over Missouri State on Wednesday night.

Ethan Wragge added 15 points, Austin Chatman had 14 points and 10 assists for his first double-double, and Grant Gibbs had 10 points for the Bluejays. Creighton (19-3, 8-2) moved into a tie for first place with Wichita State in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Gavin Thurman scored 19 points to lead the Bears (6-16, 4-6), who dropped to 1-10 on the road.

McDermott, who also had 10 rebounds and three assists, got better as the game progressed. He scored 18 points and made 3 of 4 3s in the second half. The performance was still a far cry from his splendid outing in Springfield, Mo., on Jan. 11, when he personally outscored Missouri State 28-25 in the second half and made 14 shots in a row on his way to a season-best 39 points.

No. 24 Cincinnati 62, Rutgers 54: Sean Kilpatrick scored 19 points and No. 24 Cincinnati intensified its defense in the second half, overcoming a 10-point deficit to beat Rutgers 62-54 on Wednesday night for a sweep of their season series.

Cincinnati (17-4, 5-3 Big East) blocked eight shots, forced 21 turnovers and held the Scarlet Knights to 24 points in the second half. The Bearcats also won at Rutgers 68-58 on Jan. 12.

Myles Mack scored 15 points to lead the Scarlet Knights (12-8, 3-6), who have lost four in a row with an offense that can’t find any consistency.

The Bearcats trailed by 10 early in the second half and didn’t lead until Kilpatrick’s fastbreak layup put them ahead with 11 minutes left. Point guard Cashmere Wright hit a 3-pointer that put them ahead to stay.

Cincinnati had eight days off following its 57-55 loss at Syracuse, giving Wright more time to recover from a sprained right knee.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.